On the Cusp
by Diary
Summary: Set during HBP. One night, the sixth year Gryffindor boys discuss family, relationships, sex, and marriage. Complete.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

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"George and Fred used to tell me that the boys in their dormitory always talked about girls," Ron says one night. "Why don't we do that?"

"I like blokes, Dean's dating your baby sister, Harry's private, and Neville, er, anyway, that's why," Seamus answers, looking up from his bed.

"Thanks," Neville mutters. "I've been asked out before, you know."

"Neville, no offence, but Luna dragging you to hunt down weird-sounding creatures isn't exactly-"

"Luna fancies Ron," Neville retorts, causing the said redhead to choke on his butterbeer. "I've been asked by actual girls."

"Hey," Harry says, looking up from his card collection. "Luna's alright. I mean, she's-"

"What do you mean, Loony fancies me?"

Neville's plant smacks Ron, and Neville deliberately looks away.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Ron says, hastily, using a pillow to try to protect himself. "Luna, alright?"

"Come away," Neville orders the plant, who gives Ron one more solid smack before obeying.

"Well, we know who the bloody mental plant fancies," Ron mutters, keeping the pillow at hand.

"Its determined to beat her at cards one of these days," Neville answers. "And for everyone's information, I've been asked out by three girls. During fourth year, this pretty third year Slytherin asked me to the Yule Ball, but me and Ginny had already agreed to go together. Last year, me and Hannah Abbot kissed under the mistletoe, but I reckon that doesn't count. Anyway, this year-"

"Wait," Dean interrupts, "you and Hannah kissed?"

"Look, it was sort of Luna's fault," Neville says. "I mean- but yeah. It was just a kiss, it didn't last long. We sat together at the Hog's Head, by ourselves, a few times, but nothing really came out of it. She loves all sorts of music, and all I really know is ghouls chants and Celestina Warbeck. More than that, though, we just didn't really feel that way about each other."

"Whoa," Seamus says, impressed. Then, gloomily, "That makes me the only one, then."

Dean leaves his bed to crawl onto Seamus's, briefly hugging his friend. "Don't worry, Shay. You'll find a boy soon enough."

Seamus shrugs. "It won't matter. What kind of bloke wants to wait for marriage, really? Especially when it's two of them?"

Harry looks over. "Er, what's the wizarding stance on that sort of thing? My aunt and uncle, whenever," he blushes, "sex came up, it was always about how they'd raised Dudley to not do that until he was married. I reckon that won't be a problem, no girl in her right mind would want him."

"I hate that attitude," Dean mutters. Then, he clarifies, "I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with someone waiting until marriage-"

"Good," Ron says, menacingly.

"But when her ex-husband ran off," Dean continues, which they all know means his biological father, "Mum didn't trust men for a long time. When Dad came around, she got pregnant with Tallie pretty quick, but she refused to look into getting a divorce so that she could marry him. People at a nearby church treated her horribly. I got into a fight with one of the boys from there and threw a cup of cold tea at one of the girls. Once she finally did marry Dad, suddenly, she was respectable again. Or mostly; there's still some people who talk about her 'unfortunate past'. The fact she's always been a good mum didn't matter to them and still doesn't."

"Sounds like the Dursleys would love them."

"Things are a bit different, sort of," Ron tells Harry. "Like, my mum's always made it clear we're supposed to wait until marriage, but I know for a fact Bill and Charlie haven't. The git may not have, either. Basically, most people would still look down on Dean's mum, sorry, mate," he says, shooting Dean an apologetic look. "Usually, the only single parents are widows and widowers. But people living together or staying over at one another's, well, as long as children aren't involved, everyone just minds their own business. A lot of people don't get married until they've found the person they want to have babies with."

"So," Harry says, tentatively, "what about people like Seamus?"

"Technically," Neville speaks up, "they can get married. There are people who'll do a bonding ceremony, but it's not really encouraged. Which is bloody terrible, if you ask me," he says, somewhat vehemently, earning surprised looks from everyone, with gratitude mixed in on Dean and Seamus's faces.

"Ever since I was little, I've wanted to get married and have babies," he continues. "I'd like one of each, if possible. And I don't like the thought of some little boy or girl having the same dreams and hopes and then being told that because they see themselves with another boy or girl that a lot of people would prefer it if they just lived together and introduced the person they loved as 'my good friend'. They deserve their dream wedding and being able to introduce the person they love as their husband or wife without feeling like they're doing something naughty, same as I do."

"Thanks, Neville," Seamus says. "Still, even if it weren't like that, most people have sex without marriage. And I'm not saying I think that's bad. Everyone has needs, yeah? I reckon a bunch of people would just convince themselves they were in love and ready for marriage when they weren't and aren't. It's just that, I've always felt that it's important I don't do that until after I get married."

"Would it matter if he'd been with someone before you," Harry inquires.

"No," Seamus answers as he digs out a package of cauldron cakes and tossing them around the room. "Why would it? I know I don't talk about it much, but me faith's a big part of things. It doesn't make me better or worse than anyone, though. Dean isn't sure if God exists, and one of my cousins converted to Judaism when she got married. Though, she and her husband decided not to circumcise if they had any boys. It'd be nice to find someone to share it with, but Mam always thought she'd marry a pureblood. She wasn't like Malfoy, she just thought that's who she'd end up with. Then, she and Dad fell in love. Reckon as long as we have other things in common, faith doesn't need to be one of them. It's just, like I said, to me, it's important I not do it until after getting married."

"What about you, Neville," Ron asks through a mouthful of cauldron cake. "I imagine your gran's a lot like my mum."

"I can see why you would," Neville answers, "but actually, she's not. I mean, she's always told me that she better not ever catch me, er, doing that with someone I'm not married to under her roof, but she's also told me that it's not necessarily bad to be like that with someone without being married. In third year, we had a nice, long talk. Taught me about how babies are made, that I shouldn't ever let anyone pressure me, that she'd hex me blind if she ever found out I'd pressured someone, and that I needed to always be responsible. You know, go to Madam Pomfrey or St Mungo's, and that, if for some reason, a baby happened anyways, I'd better not be a coward and leave the girl alone to deal with everything."

"Much better than mine, then," Ron says. At Harry's dark look, he says, "Sorry, mate, but it's true. I know how much you love her and Dad, but seven children they could barely afford. It wasn't until after Ginny that Dad got it to where he couldn't help produce babies anymore, and Ginny's definitely not doing anything until marriage," he says, glaring at Dean, "but I reckon Mrs Longbottom has the right idea. Like I said, I know that Charlie and Bill didn't listen, and I may not, either."

"You and Lavender," Dean asks.

Shrugging uncomfortably, Ron looks down. "I've gone under the shirt," he mutters, face surpassing his hair in redness. "And we've, y'know, rubbed together down below before, but through the clothes only."

"Just be sure it doesn't go further before seeing Madam Pomfrey," Neville says, steeling himself. "And p-please, don't tell us anymore. We have classes with Lavender, right? It's not proper to talk about what she does or doesn't do when it comes to stuff like that. Her business, not ours."

"Fair enough," Ron agrees.

"What about you, Harry," Seamus asks, noticing how Harry is determinedly organising his cards.

"I kissed Cho some, in fifth year," he says, shrugging. "This summer, I met a fit girl, and I almost went on a date with her, but before I could, Dumbledore made arrangements for me to go to Ron's."

"Was she a witch, think you could find her here?" Dean asks.

"No, she was muggle," Harry answers. "A bit older than me."

"Would you have shagged her," Seamus inquires.

"No," Harry answers. "Or not right away, anyway. I don't know about waiting until marriage, but that's a big step. I'd want to know someone really well taking it." He pauses moment. "Seamus, I don't think I'll ever fancy a boy, but if I loved a girl and she wanted to wait until marriage, I wouldn't mind. I imagine there are boys who fancy blokes who are the same."

"That's what I keep trying to tell him," Dean says, affectionately ruffling his friend's hair. "You don't have to worry, Ron. If me and Ginny last, I wouldn't mind waiting. But," he continues, "if we don't, I hope to find a girl who doesn't want to wait for long, especially not 'til then. I mean, it's not like I'm desperate, it's just that it'd be nice to see what it's like."

The plant trips Ron before he can get close enough to attack Dean.

"What about you, Neville," Seamus quickly says, wrapping himself protectively around Dean as Harry drags Ron back up and waves a cauldron cake in front of his face.

Neville shrugs. "I reckon if I ever get a girlfriend, I'll figure it out, then."

"Who's the third girl who asked you out," Ron asks, still glowering in Dean's direction.

For a long moment, Neville doesn't answer. "Alright, look, I want all of you to promise you aren't going to let it leave this room."

After they've dutifully promised, Neville says, "I reckon I can't stop you from laughing, but, anyway, I've been helping Professor Sprout with the younger classes. And there's this little second year who's got a gift, and she's lonely. I've been letting her come to Hogsmeade with me and Luna. One day, she asked if I'd be her boyfriend."

"Merlin, Neville, how in the hell did you handle that," Ron asks, giving him a sympathetic look.

"I didn't know how, but thank goodness, Luna was nearby. I waved her over, and she was very gentle in letting Miri down. I don't know exactly what she said, she took her for a walk, but when they came back, Miri hugged me and said she understood. We still take her to Hogsmeade, and she seems fine."

"And you didn't think to maybe ask Luna what she said?" Seamus inquires, giving her an exasperated look.

"I did ask her, and she said that she thought it better I not know. She's probably right about that."

"Can we get back to Loon- Luna fancying me?"

"Harry, you have to participate," Seamus says. "Honest show of hand, men, who here's known about Luna's crush for a while?"

Every hand but Ron's goes up.

"What."

"She laughs at all your jokes, Ron, even the ones that aren't actually funny," Harry supplies.

"And she's always humming 'Weasley is Our King,'" Seamus adds.

"Plus, she made that awesome lion hat last year, remember," Dean continues.

"I've been spending a lot of time with her," Neville says. "And yeah, Luna has a lot of- unique ideas, but once you get comfortable around her, she comes off as a lot more human. Whenever you're mentioned or we're around you, it's obvious to see."

"I think you're all mental."

Before anyone can respond, Peeves bursts in. "Sixth years still up! Naughty, naughty, ickle-ones!"

Sighing, Neville pushes his flattened plant under the bed. "Plan Zogia?"

"Right," Ron says, grimly. "Come on, mates, we're not going to take this sort of abuse any longer."

And they proceed to wage war on the poltergeist, laughing and swearing, five friends, boys on the cusp of manhood.


End file.
